As if more evidence was needed in the case against economic stimulus:

Below is the text from the Congressional Budget Office website (which has been inaccessible due to apparent inability of government servers to present data efficiently).  The document details the importance of lowering federal debt by cutting spending or by increasing federal revenues (or both).  

Federal Debt and the Risk of a Fiscal Crisis
Over the past few years, U.S. government debt held by the public has grown rapidly—to the point that, compared with the total output of the economy, it is now higher than it has ever been except during the period around World War II. The recent increase in debt has been the result of three sets of factors: an imbalance between federal revenues and spending that predates the recession and the recent turmoil in financial markets, sharply lower revenues and elevated spending that derive directly from those economic conditions, and the costs of various federal policies implemented in response to the conditions.

More after the jump...

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In stark contrast to a story last week that painted President Fanklin Roosevelt as the greatest U.S. President of all time, a story in today's Washington Post asks if President Obama isn't perhaps following in the same economic missteps that FDR took in the mid to late 1930's. 

By fixating on the debt and stimulus plans, Obama and Congress are overlooking challenges to the economy from taxes, employment and the entrepreneurial environment. President Roosevelt's great error was to ignore such factors -- and the result was that sickening double dip.

Ah, yes, the infamous double dip.  Good when in reference to ice cream consumption, but scary when mentioned in regards to economic patterns.  It's too bad that the author completely shrugs off the fact that the inability of President Obama and Congress to correctly deal with the debt that our nation holds is the poison that continues to strangle our economy.  Economic strategist, and candidate for U.S. Senate in Connecticut, Peter Schiff explains why double dips happen in the first place  in this video from December '09.

Christopher Dodd, outgoing Connecticut Senator who is retiring after being involved in multiple controversies made the following comments after finalizing details of the new financial overhaul legislation overnight: 

This is about as important as it gets, because it deals with every single aspect of our lives. (source)

 No one will know until this is actually in place how it works. But we believe we've done something that has been needed for a long time. It took a crisis to bring us to the point where we could actually get this job done. (source)

Why is the most common recurring theme coming from Washington these days, 'This is very important, but we don't know how it'll work until it's in place"?  America deserves better, Senator!  If finance reform is so important, I think it'd be prudent first of all to involve people who haven't been at the center of the collapse of our economy.  I know it makes it sound like a joke, but it's common sense.  

Secondly, why do major parts of the 2,000 page bill need to be "negotiated in the hallway of the Dirksen Senate Office Building as the clock neared midnight" (source)?  And finally, why aren't you all spending endless hours trying to pass a Federal Budget as required by law instead of adding more regulations that will likely continue to hurt American businesses and markets?